10
THE FARM AND
Now sing the weapons of the hardy swain,
Without which none can sow or reap the grain;
The ploughshare first and massy curve of plough,
Th' Eleusine mother's waggons rolling slow,
The sled, the sleigh, the harrow's crushing weight, 190
And Celeus' ware, the cheap twig-woven crate;
Bush-harrows too, and Bacchus' mystic van;
All which, with foresight and judicious plan,
Long time must be procured, if thou design
To earn the glory of the farm divine. 195
Forthwith, a live elm by sheer force is bow'd,
And grows a plough-stock with due curve endow'd;
Hereto, at base, an eight-foot pole is join'd,
Two earth-boards, and a share-beam doubles-pined:
A linden also, lightsome for the yoke, 200
Is fell'd betimes, and beech that towers afar,
(The helve behind to guide the plunging car)—
Then hang these woods to season in the smoke.
Now a timeworn maxim can I quote,
Unless thou scornest things of little note: 205
With rollers level first the threshing-floor,
Without which none can sow or reap the grain;
The ploughshare first and massy curve of plough,
Th' Eleusine mother's waggons rolling slow,
The sled, the sleigh, the harrow's crushing weight, 190
And Celeus' ware, the cheap twig-woven crate;
Bush-harrows too, and Bacchus' mystic van;
All which, with foresight and judicious plan,
Long time must be procured, if thou design
To earn the glory of the farm divine. 195
Forthwith, a live elm by sheer force is bow'd,
And grows a plough-stock with due curve endow'd;
Hereto, at base, an eight-foot pole is join'd,
Two earth-boards, and a share-beam doubles-pined:
A linden also, lightsome for the yoke, 200
Is fell'd betimes, and beech that towers afar,
(The helve behind to guide the plunging car)—
Then hang these woods to season in the smoke.
Now a timeworn maxim can I quote,
Unless thou scornest things of little note: 205
With rollers level first the threshing-floor,
